Responding to the Leadership Crisis in an Age Of Terror
By Vincent J. Bove, CPP
Leadership as a critical American response to the events of September 11 and the potential if not inevitable
additional terror attacks on American soil and interests demands a discerning evaluation. Events within all
facets of American society overtly depict deficiencies and the need for more dynamic leadership.
Characteristics of this leadership must be perseverance, dedication, collaboration, communication and
education of the community.
Unlike any other period in American history, a scale of violence and potential
violence (including biological, chemical, and radioactive weapons) has now entered into the American homeland.
Therefore, a collaborative, sustained, vigilant effort of security professionals, law enforcement officials and the
citizenry must be cultivated. Guidelines for these partnerships, otherwise known formally as Operation Cooperation,
were developed by the United States Department of Justice.
Operation Cooperation represents a major initiative
to encourage partnerships between law enforcement and private security professionals. These forged partnerships
must be built on hallmark foundational principles of leadership, which is that leaders inspire, motivate, educate and
leave an indelible positive mark and legacy on history.
In order to build on these positive characteristics of leadership,
it is first necessary to take an honest, serious and enlightening look into contemporary deficiencies of leadership within
the very fabric of American society.
A Failure of Leadership
On September 11, 2003, coincidentally the second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the front page of the business
section of The New York Times, depicted a photo of the former Enron treasurer in handcuffs and ankle shackles.
Ben Glison Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, which was the heart of a corporate scandal that crippled
his company by manipulating its financials statements by as much as $1 billion. The former treasurer�s reprehensible
actions led to a 5-year prison sentence. This conspiracy had a significant adverse impact on the company, its investors,
employees, retired employees and America�s trust in corporate leadership.
A colleague of Ben Glison Jr., former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was in handcuffs on February 19, 2004.
Mr. Skilling, 50 years old, was being escorted from FBI headquarters in Houston, Texas and facing 325 years in prison.
He was charged with 35 counts of fraud and insider trading that generated $62.6 million from stock and scheming to
mislead government regulators and investors.
Another Enron leader, former CEO and Chairman Ken Lay followed the scandalous headlines of his associates by being
led away in handcuffs on July 8, 2004. Mr. Lay had an 11-count indictment, which included conspiracy to manipulate
financials as well as false and misleading statements about financial performance. Enron�s 2001 collapse, in the very year
of the 9/11 attacks, cost investors billions, caused thousands to lose jobs and wiped out life long retirement savings.
A once admired company was now an icon of corporate America�s greed, dishonesty and excess with executives selfishly
enriching themselves through salary, bonuses and stock at the expense of others.
Compounding the Enron scandal on March 3, 2004, WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was charged in the biggest
corporate fraud scheme in American history, at an estimated cost of $11 billion. The former titan of American business
success arrived at Jacob K. Javitz Federal Court House in New York after surrendering to the FBI on federal charges to
commit securities fraud and making false statements to the Securities Exchange Commission.
Aside from the corporate shame, a crisis of leadership also affected the American Catholic Church. Bishop Wilton D. Gregory,
President of The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2002 expressed an apology to victims of sexual abuse
by priests, saying that church leaders were to blame for allowing them to remain in the ministry. Bishop Gregory acknowledged
that some church leaders had been more concerned about scandal then victims. �We are the ones who chose not to report the
criminal actions of priests to the authorities and who worried more about the possibility of scandal then preventing abuses�.
A comprehensive report by the Attorney General of Massachusetts entitled �The Sexual Abuse of Children in the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Boston� was released on July 23, 2003. The core of the report (investigating abuse within the Archdiocese of
Boston where the national scandal first ignited) stated that the scandal was due to a �massive and pervasive failure of leadership
in the Church�.
The tragic commentary on the crisis of American leadership continues with the contemptuous reality of public corruption.
This is most clearly emphasized in the February 16, 2005 congressional testimony of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
before the Senate Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate. Although the primary emphasis of this
testimony was on terrorism, the Director stated that there is a convergence of criminal threats, in that counter terrorism,
counterintelligence, cyber and criminal investigations are interrelated and that there are rarely clear dividing lines that
distinguish terrorist, counterintelligence and criminal activity. Therefore, public corruption continues to pose the greatest
threat to the integrity of all levels of government and recent FBI investigative efforts have been intensified to identify and
convict Immigration, Department of State and Department of Motor Vehicle officials illegally selling visas or other
citizenship documents and drivers licenses to anyone with enough money. The Director continued with alarming
remarks underscoring that illegal activities potentially conceal the identity and purpose of terrorists and other criminals,
facilitating their entry, travel and operation without detection in the United States. �Investigations have convicted numerous
law enforcement officers, including those who formed criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking.
Many major metropolitan areas in the United States have witnessed the indictment and conviction of corrupt public
officials who betrayed the public trust for profit or personal gain. Over the last two years alone, the FBI has convicted
more than 1,050 corrupt government employees, including 177 federal officials, 158 state officials, 360 local officials
and more than 365 police officers� as stated by the FBI Director during his congressional testimony.
9/11 Commission Report
On July 22, 2004 �The 9/11 Commission Report�, that is, the final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon
the United States was released. This report should be required reading for all law enforcement, security officials and citizenry
seriously committed to terrorism awareness, preparedness and prevention. It also provides a profound insight into a perverse
exercising of leadership in the chapter �Al Qaeda Aims at the American Homeland� by defining the requirements for a successful attack.
Essentially, Al Qaeda leaders realized that these leadership characteristics were necessary for organizing and conducting a complex
international terrorist operation to inflict catastrophic harm:
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leaders able to evaluate, approve and supervise the planning and direction of the operation
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communications sufficient to enable planning and direction of the operatives and those who would be willing to help them
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a personnel system that could recruit candidates, indoctrinate them and give them necessary training
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an intelligence effort to gather required information and form assessments of enemy strengths and weaknesses
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the ability to move people
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the ability to raise and move the necessary money
Essentially, Al Qaeda used basic foundations of effective leadership to successfully complete its depraved
and demented mission against America.
America's Call to Leadership
The 9/11 Commission Report provides an excellent insight into one of the many responses of leadership necessary for the
age of terror. In the chapter, �What To Do? A Global Strategy�, the commission report recommends, �The U.S. government
must define what the message is and what it stands for. We should offer an example of moral leadership in the world,
committed to treat people humanely, abide by the rule of law and be generous and caring to our neighbors. American and
Muslim friends can agree on respect for human dignity and opportunity. To Muslim parents, terrorists like Bin Laden have
nothing to offer their children but visions of violence and death�.
Aside from a need to inflame the sentiments of America to the criticality of cultural diversity as a paragon of moral
leadership, it is also essential that leadership be exercised with basic security procedures, protocol, and awareness.
To this extent, the National Crime Prevention Council recommends these preparations for emergencies at the workplace,
which should be animated by law enforcement and security experts:
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Learn about your company's emergency plans. Ensure that a plan is developed
if one is not in place.
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Practice your company's emergency plans, including evacuation plans.
Evacuation plans need to be legible and posted prominently on each floor.
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Know the exit routes and evacuation plans in your building.
Know at least two exit routes from each room, if possible.
Be able to escape in the dark by knowing how many desks or cubicles
are between your workstation and the exits.
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Have a designated post-evacuation meeting location where appropriate
personnel can take a headcount and identify missing workers. Every employee
should be aware of this location.
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Make special emergency plans for co-workers who are disabled or may
require assistance during and emergency.
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Know the location of fire extinguishers and medical kits. Periodically check
extinguishers and alarm systems.
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Make a list of important phone numbers. Keep a printed list at our desk and near other
telephones. Do not rely on electronic lists, direct dial phone numbers, or computer
organizers that may not work in an emergency.
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Gather personal emergency supplies in a desk drawer, including a flashlight,
walking shoes, water bottle and non-perishable food.
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Report damaged or malfunctioning safety systems to appropriate personnel
for repair and maintenance.
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Never lock fire exits or block doorways, halls, or stairways.
However, keep fire doors closed to slow the spred of smoke and fire.
Training sessions should be conducted to specifically train workplace personnel on
issues such as "Signs of Terrorist Activity." The public is the eyes and ears complimenting
the work of law enforcement and security professionals. Therefore, training sessions by
law enforcement and security leaders should emphasize these aspects of terrorism
awareness:
Surveillance
Individuals should take note and report such things as someone recording, photographing
or monitoring activities, drawing diagrams or annotating on maps, the use of vision-enhancing
devices, having in one�s possession floor plans or blue prints of places such as high-tech firms,
financial institutions or government/military facilities. Any of these surveillance type acts may
be indicators that something is not right.
Elicitation
This is pertaining to anyone attempting to gain information about a place, person or operation.
An example is someone attempting to gain knowledge about a critical infrastructure like a tunnel,
power plant, water reservoir, bridge, a corporation or maritime port. Terrorists may attempt to
research bridge and tunnel usage, make unusual inquiries concerning shipments or inquire as to
how a military base operates. Inappropriate elicitation about a company should also be a
concern that is immediately reported to authorities.
Tests of Security
Terrorists can attempt data collection by driving by the target, moving into sensitive areas and
observing security or law enforcement response. They would be interested in the time in which
an incident is responded to by authorities.
Acquiring Supplies
A red flag should be raised if someone is purchasing or stealing explosives, weapons or
ammunition. It is also a concern if someone is storing harmful chemicals or chemical
equipment. Terrorists would also find it useful to have in their possession law enforcement
equipment, ids, decals or flight passes, badges or even flight manuals.
Suspicious People Who Do Not Belong
Someone in a workplace, building, neighborhood or business establishment that does
not fit in because of their demeanor, language usage or unusual questions that
they are asking.
Dry Runs
Before execution of the final operation or plan, a practice session will be run to work
out the flaws and unanticipated problems. A dry run may very well be the heart of a
planning stage of a terrorist act. It is usually during this stage that it is actually the best
chance to intercept and stop an attack.
Deploying Assets / Getting into Position
This is the last chance to alert authorities before the terrorist act occurs.
Nearly 3,000 people died on a day of infamy on the American homeland. In lower Manhattan,
on a field in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, the United States suffered the single largest loss
of life from an enemy attack on its soil. America must rise to the occasion, avoid having a
short-term memory and establish a culture of leadership that cultivates partnerships, prevention
and education.
Vincent J. Bove, CPP
is a Board Certified Protection Professional, Board Certified Crime Prevention Specialist,
Certified Law Enforcement Instructor and U.S. Department of Justice Certified Community
Anti-Terrorism Awareness Trainer.
He is the 2007 New Jersey recipient of the prestigious
FBI Director's Community Leadership Award
and was hand-selected to serve as a facilitator and mentor for the 2007
National Conference on Ethics in America
and speaker for the 2008 conference at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
"Vincent J. Bove is considered one of the foremost
national experts on school and workplace violence
prevention, specializing in facility protection,
evacuations, terrorism prevention and leadership
training." -- U.S. Senate
You can visit Mr. Bove's website at
www.vincentbove.com
or email him at
vincent@vincentbove.com
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